Bleeding Heart
by SkyGem
Summary: Ninomiya Miharu has had it up to here with her aunt. Since her mother's disappearance, she's had to stay with a woman who doesn't want her, and it's wearing her thin. So when a charismatic young man turns up and claims to be a distant relative, she doesn't know whether it's too good to be true, or the man is after something? No pairings. Outsider POV. Canon compliant.
1. Prologue

It was a on a late summer evening that she first met him. The days were already starting to lose their blistering summer heat, and on this day particularly, it was slightly chilly.

Whether that was from the coming night, or the coming rainstorm foretold by the blanket of clouds overhead, she couldn't be sure.

But she knew that she would have to head home soon.

She only wished it could be her own home she was returning to.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps, and the brief clinking of chains as someone sat down in the swing next to her.

Looking up from where her gaze was trained on the sand between her feet, she saw a young man sitting beside her.

He had eyes the colour of freshly ground coffee beans, and hair of the same shade. He had the kind of face that made it hard to tell his age, but judging from the clothes he was wearing (a pair of comfortable, worn skinny jeans and a black hoodie over a tank top), she would guess he was in his early twenties.

"You're Ninomiya Miharu-chan, aren't you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side questioningly, a child-like grin on his face.

Miharu didn't answer him, merely staring at him guardedly. How did he know her name? Could he be somebody suspicious?

Seeing her expression, the young man seemed to guess her train of thought, and hurried to introduce himself.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said, holding out a hand. "A distant cousin."

Miharu kept staring at him, still not sure if she should believe him.

"Really, I'm telling the truth!" he said, reaching into a pocket to pull out his phone. Turning it on, he tapped the screen a few times, then turned it to show her a picture of himself and an older woman, whom Miharu thought she vaguely recognized.

"See here?" he said, "She's my mother. Her birth name was Ninomiya Nana. She and your mother are second cousins."

Miharu nodded shortly, believing him, but no less guarded than before. So they'd established that they were related. So what.

The man, Tsunayoshi-san, didn't seem the least bit put off by her unfriendliness.

"So, why haven't you gone home yet, Miharu-chan? Your aunt is worried about you, you know."

"Don't patronize me," she replied.

Tsunayosi-san's eyes widened slightly, and the corners of his lips tugged up into a wider smile. He seemed amused.

"She's probably relieved I'm not there. Or hadn't you heard? Her precious _Haru-chan_ is taking his university exams this year! He needs to _focus_."

She tried to put as much faux concern in her voice as possible, and was awarded when her companion chuckled.

"You know, I think I may have heard something about that. You know, right after she said," and here he adopted a ridiculous falsetto, "'Miharu-chan is _such_ a good girl, and I feel terribly sorry that I can't look after her. _Terribly sorry._ "

Miharu couldn't help it, she burst into laughter at his horrible (and yet scarily accurate) imitation of her aunt.

He grinned proudly at her reaction, as if making her laugh was the single most important thing he'd done in his life.

They joked around like that for a few more minutes, Tsunayoshi-san doing equally hilarious imitations of her uncle and her cousin as well.

Miharu was laughing so hard, her stomach hurt. She hadn't laughed this hard since...

She froze, the laughter draining out of her as she remembered her situation.

Tsunayoshi-san, seeming to notice the shift in her mood, stopped goofing around.

"Miharu-chan," he said, and she flinched, hoping that when she looked up, her expression didn't look as vulnerable as she felt.

Tsunayoshi-san's soft smile told her it did. But strangely, she found she didn't mind, if it was him seeing it.

Coming to crouch in front of her swing, he looked up at her with eyes devoid of pity, something she'd gotten used to seeing in all the adults in her life lately.

"Would you like to live with me, Miharu-chan?" he asked, holding her gaze. "I promise I won't do anything strange. And we can even live in your own home, if you want. But if you don't want to, that's okay too. I have a nice apartment in this city that we could live in. You wouldn't have to transfer schools, and I could even help you look for your mom."

Miharu stared at him.

Surely this was too good to be true.

"W-what about the bills?" she asked.

Tsunayoshi-san smiled, obviously thinking he had convinced her.

"I'll pay for everything, don't you worry. I've got more than enough money to get us by, and some left over to get however much junk food we need as well," he replied with a wink.

"Why would you do this for someone you don't even know?" she asked.

His smile flickered a bit, dimming slightly, and Miharu grew curious.

Then, it was back full force, and he said, "Because we're family. And every kid deserves to feel loved and supported, and not have to worry about being a burden."

Miharu still hesitated.

It was such a tempting offer.

But she really didn't want to get hurt again.

The truth was, she liked Tsunayoshi-san. She liked him a lot. He was funny and nice, and he didn't talk to her like she was stupid. He talked to her like she was an adult, like she was smart.

She wanted to open her heart to him, but what if she disappointed him? What if he decided to leave because she wasn't a good enough girl, or if she wasn't as smart as he thought she was?

She didn't think she could bear it.

But...

"Y-you said you'd help me find okaa-san?" she asked, and cursed herself when she realized how small her voice sounded. Tsunayoshi-san probably thought she was a total baby. He was probably regretting his decision right now.

He was going to get right up now, say he changed his mind, and leave.

But he didn't.

Instead, he smiled, reached out a hand, and said, "We'll find her. Together. And then you can give her a piece of your mind."

Miharu laughed a slightly watery laugh – even now, he was so silly.

Accepting his hand, she got up off the swing and gave it a firm shake, as if they were closing a deal, before letting go.

She fell into step beside him as the two of them headed home (her _real_ home), exchanging friendly banter as they went.

* * *

SkyGem: That's it for this chapter! We get a short prologue, and an introduction to Miharu! Next chapter will have a Tsu pov, though I haven't decided yet if the whole thing will be his pov, or Miharu's as well. Either way, look forward to it! It'll be up tomorrow. This is a short one though. It should be over by the end of the weekend, or possible early next week. I'll be updating it every day. It's kinda weird though. At the moment, this fic seems like it's not really part of the KHR world. It is though, don't worry! You'll get to see more about it next chapter.


	2. The Phone Call

When Miharu stepped into her home for the first time in two weeks, she was ashamed to admit that she almost started crying.

The air was stale, and the whole house had this slight feeling of abandonment around it, but it was still her home, and it was good to have the familiarity back.

Taking off her shoes and placing them neatly next to the wall, she hesitated for a moment, before saying, "I'm home."

There was a moment of silence, and she knew a part of her was hoping (or perhaps _expecting_ ) her mother to respond, to come out of the kitchen and scold her for coming home so late.

Instead, the response she got was a warm, "Welcome home," from Tsunayoshi-san, who had come to stand beside her.

She looked up, slightly startled, and he ruffled her hair lightly.

"Now, you go ahead and get changed into something more comfortable, and I'll call your aunt and let her know that you'll be staying with me, alright?"

Miharu hesitated, causing her cousin to look down at her questioningly.

"What will we be eating tonight, Tsunayoshi-san?" she asked. "Auntie cleaned out all the food in the kitchen back when I went to go live with her, so that none of it would go bad."

Tsunayoshi-san raised an eyebrow in response, and Miharu looked down at her feet, wondering if perhaps she'd asked a stupid question.

"First of all," said the young man in a stern voice, "Don't call me Tsunayoshi. Only my grandfather calls me that...well, that's not true. There is one other guy, but he's kinda a creep, and not the kind of person you want to be emulating."

He punctuated this last sentence with a wink, to show he was just kidding.

"Call me Tsuna-nii instead," he then continued. "That's what my younger siblings do. And second of all, don't you worry your pretty little head about the food. We'll order out for tonight, and then go shopping tomorrow. Sound good?"

Miharu nodded.

"Good. Now get going, child. I'll call you when the food is here."

Miharu narrowed her eyes slightly at his wording. He had a rather funny way of speaking.

But then again, she really wasn't one to talk. She'd lost count of the number of times people had told her she was much too mature for a twelve-year-old.

So she hurried upstairs without another word, and stayed there for the next half hour, reading one of her favourite books.

She was only a few chapters in, though, when she realized she could hear Tsuna's voice drifting up from downstairs.

He seemed to be talking on the phone.

Abandoning her book on the bed, she slowly crept out of the room on silent feet, and went to sit at the top of the stairs, listening to Tsuna's side of the conversation.

"Yes, Reborn, I know I'm being irresponsible," he was saying, the irritation in his voice startling her. She hadn't imagined her goofy cousin could sound so annoyed.

There was a pause as he listened to the person on the other side of the line, Reborn.

"No, I haven't forgotten that I'm a Don. How could I, with you reminding me about it every time you call?"

There was another pause, and Miharu couldn't help but wonder what a 'Don' was.

"Yes, I know that the other Families have begun talking about me disappearing off the face of the Earth. I'm in Japan, not the Sahara. I do happen to have an internet connection. I already have Mukuro working on something."

Other families? What other families? And why would they care about where Tsuna was? And who was this Mukuro person?

The silence was longer this time, but when Tsuna spoke again, he no longer sounded annoyed.

In fact, there was a smile in his voice when he said, "Yes, Reborn, of course I'm taking care of myself. I'm not-"

He was cut off when the other person said something, then he let out a snort of laughter.

"Fuck off Reborn, I'm not that helpless. Anyways, I've gotta get going. I'll be sure to keep up with my work, and I'll call you again soon, alright? Make sure my idiots don't cause too much trouble while I'm away."

There was a moment of silence, then another laugh burst out of him. Miharu rather liked his laugh.

"Thanks a lot Reborn. Bye."

* * *

Tsuna heaved a great sigh as he hung up the phone.

It had only been three days since he'd left Italy, and he was already starting to get a bit homesick. Which probably wasn't a good sign.

Though, to be fair, it was more his family he missed than the HQ, and who could blame him? He couldn't remember the last time he was completely without his family members for more than a couple of hours, or a day at most. It had to have been three years at least.

Reborn had been extremely against his decision to come to Japan for Miharu, citing such reasons as the mafia Family Tsuna had to run.

And ever since Tsuna had left his home in Italy, his former tutor (now his External Adviser) had been calling him every day to make sure he was alright, and to scold him for his bleeding heart.

But no matter how much Reborn griped and groaned and sighed disapprovingly, he'd never told Tsuna he _couldn't_ come to Japan (and a good thing too, because Tsuna respected him enough that he might have actually listened to him), and he hadn't gotten upset when Tsuna had decided he would.

Reborn was still Tsuna's teacher in many ways, and he was of the opinion that, as a "grown-ass mafia boss," Tsuna could make his own decisions...and his own mistakes.

Putting away his phone, Tsuna was about to head back to the living room to plop down on the sofa, when he noticed a presence, and groaned internally. He'd forgotten that little kids had big ears. And although he hadn't really said anything incriminating to Reborn, he had used a word that a twelve-year-old should not be hearing from her guardian.

Turning around to go confront the little eavesdropper, Tsuna froze in his tracks, at the foot of the stairs, when he noticed that Miharu didn't seem all that interested in the conversation she'd just overheard.

Rather, she was staring at something on Tsuna's shoulder.

Casting his gaze down to see what had caught his little cousin's attention, Tsuna groaned as two thoughts came to him.

One, he had taken his hoodie off earlier because it was warm in the house, and the Vongola Family's winged clam was now visible on his right shoulder, in all its glory.

And two, this was definitely _**not**_ how he had wanted to start the tattoo conversation with Miharu.

* * *

SkyGem: That's it for this chapter! Please do review and let me know what you guys thought, yeah? I was kinda sad at how few reviews I got on this yesterday. Was it a boring chapter? Not what you guys want to read from me? Drop me a comment and let me know if there's anything that's bothering you guys!

And a quick cultural note to y'all. There is a huge stigma around tattoos in Japan, because most people associate them with the yakuza. In fact, people with tattoos aren't even allowed at public baths and onsens! So the thing about Tsuna having a tattoo will actually be a big deal and a huge shock to Miharu.


	3. The Winged Clam

They stood staring at each other for one whole minute.

In fact, Tsuna may have stood like that all night, had Miharu not acted first.

Getting up off the stair she was sitting on, she slowly descended the stairs, noticing the way Tsuna flinched back almost imperceptibly.

She would have found it amusing how worried he seemed about her reaction, if only she wasn't so surprised by the sight before her.

Of course, she probably shouldn't be as surprised as she was. But she'd been raised to associate tattoos with the yakuza, just like most of the rest of Japan.

From what she could see though, it wasn't all that big, about half the size of her palm, and it was the only one she could see from her vantage point – hardly proof of him being in the yakuza.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she stepped around to Tsuna's side, to get a better look.

There, on his right bicep was a winged clam, coloured to look like it was made of shining gold. It was simply drawn, not all that detailed.

Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "What does it mean?"

Upon seeing that she wouldn't blow up at him or run away screaming, Tsuna seemed to relax a bit.

"It's a symbol that's important to my father's side of the family," he answered, looking down at her with a soft smile. "The hard shell of a clam is meant to symbolize protection."

Miharu tilted her head to the side, thinking. "It's protecting a pearl?" she asked.

And Tsuna smiled wider. "That's right. To us, that pearl means our family and friends. The wings are supposed to mean freedom."

"Freedom from what?" asked Miharu, and Tsuna's smile dimmed a bit.

"Uh, just...freedom in general?" he answered, not seeming so sure of his answer.

Miharu stared at him a moment, slightly suspicious, before shrugging and deciding to let it go.

"Do you have any others?" she asked.

"Just one other," replied Tsuna, in a quieter voice. "But that one isn't all that interesting."

Miharu opened her mouth to ask about it anyway, but then the doorbell rang, and as Tsuna went to answer it, the moment ended, and she knew she couldn't bring the topic up again soon.

* * *

Tsuna sighed in relief as he went to answer the door.

He'd gone through a phase, a few years back, when he'd been extremely interested in the symbolism behind the Vongola and its winged clam.

And while it was true what he'd told Miharu about the clam's shell symbolizing protection of loved ones (their 'pearls'), the wings actually symbolized freedom from the law.

And while the clam was important, the wings were the reason Giotto had decided to become a vigilante and not a police officer.

Because a protection that didn't rely on the law meant that they didn't have to have to catch the bad guys in the act in order to punish them.

They didn't have to let more innocents suffer, just so that they could get any trivial _evidence._

They didn't have to sacrifice one for the good of the rest.

But of course, that wasn't something he could say to a twelve-year-old _civilian_ girl.

So he just went to answer the door, and just hoped that she would let the topic drop.

Thanking the food delivery person with a blinding smile, he handed the young man a ten thousand yen bill, almost double the price of the food, and told him to keep the change.

The young man stuttered his thanks, and turned to head back to his car, looking back a few times with a disbelieving expression on his face.

Tsuna smiled at him once more before closing the door and heading back to his young charge.

He didn't often like to eat out, since the food was always so greasy and ill-prepared (and he supposed he was somewhat spoiled by the chefs at the Vongola HQ), but it was a necessary evil for now.

As he and Miharu (who had thankfully not brought up the tattoo again) set the table for two, he asked, "I called your aunt earlier, and said she was sorry to see you go."

Miharu snorted, the disbelief evident in her face.

"We'll go over and collect all your things from her place tomorrow, alright? Is there anything especially important there that you need tonight?"

Miharu shook her head no.

"Just some clothes and my summer homework. But I've already finished that."

"Oh, right, you're starting school again the day after tomorrow, aren't you?" asked Tsuna. That was rather convenient for him.

This way he could get some work done and possibly schedule some meetings, and not have to worry about leaving his young charge at home alone.

He'd already let Mukuro know to fabricate some sightings of himself hanging around in Venice, where the Vongola had a summer home, so that they could lay to rest the rumours that he'd disappeared (some were even saying that he'd died in a shootout with an enemy famiglia).

But he could still have some business talks with some of their closest allies, like Dino, and Aria from the Giglio Nero, whom he'd built a rather good relationship with since he'd become Decimo (he'd been endlessly amused to find out who Yuni's father was).

* * *

Dinner was a pleasant affair, as both child and guardian got to know each other a little better, and then spent an hour afterwards watching crappy late night comedies.

But when all was said and done, and it was time to get ready for bed, a realization hit Miharu.

Tsuna didn't have...anything.

No clothes, no belongings, nothing other than his cell phone, so far as she could see. They'd just kind of come to her house and jumped into some semblance of a normal routine.

It was obvious that he was planning on sleeping in his jeans and tank for tonight, but surely he couldn't be planning to do that the whole time he was staying with her, right?

But where were his possessions?

For that matter, where was his _home_?

Did he even have one?

For the first time since they'd met, it occurred to Miharu that she didn't actually really know anything about her strange cousin.

He could be a homeless freeter for all she knew.

Never mind that he seemed far too well-groomed and well-mannered to be homeless.

He _had_ mentioned earlier that he had an apartment. Perhaps he was planning on bringing some of his things here tomorrow?

Or had he been bluffing then, knowing that she would choose to stay at her own home?

Miharu wondered about this question endlessly (she didn't quite have the guts to come right out and ask him), but in the end, it turned out she needn't have worried.

Her answer came the very next morning, when she stumbled downstairs, still slightly sleepy, to the smell of eggs in the kitchen.

She stopped on her way there, however, when she heard the sound of a not-so-quiet whispered argument right outside her front door.

Eyebrows furrowed, she went to go see what the commotion was, and opened the door to find three kids standing there, with a suitcase sitting in front of them.

Two of them were her age, and the third looked about fifteen or sixteen.

They all turned to stare at her with wide eyes when she opened the door, none of them knowing what to say.

In the end, they started bickering again.

Except she couldn't quite seem to understand them, because they were speaking another language.

She stood there, confused, and this went on for several minutes, before Tsuna came out to see what the commotion was.

As soon as he saw who was at the door though, he froze, his eyes growing wide.

The strange foreign kids, noticing him standing there, stopped bickering.

When Tsuna was finally able to pick his jaw up off the floor, he demanded, in a voice that stated he _clearly_ wasn't happy, "What on **Earth** are you three doing here?"

* * *

SkyGem: Well, that's it for this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed, yeah? I know some of you were expecting Miharu to learn something _important_ in this chapter. But honestly. It wouldn't be very fun if the game was up so early. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoyed how this chapter played out! Please drop me a comment below and let me know what you thought, eh? Next chapter will be out tomorrow, and it's sure to be an interesting one, given the ending of this one, eh? Anyways, bye guys! See you tomorrow! And don't forget to review!


	4. The Kids

"What on **Earth** are you three doing here?"

Miharu's eyes widened as she looked up at the menacing expression on her older cousin's face.

The two younger kids immediately hid behind the older one, who started stuttering again, in that language they'd been speaking before.

"Ah!" interrupted Tsuna, holding up an index finger to get him to stop talking. "What have I said about languages?"

"I-In Japan we speak Japanese," stuttered the boy, looking down.

"Good," said Tsuna with a nod. "Now tell me. What are you doing here?"

Fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, the boy said, "W-well we missed you b-because we hadn't seen you in a while. So when we f-found out that Reborn was sending some o-of your stuff over, we thought that maybe w-we could bring it over instead."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't.

Instead, the other boy peeked his head out from behind his friend, and said in a quiet voice, "We thought you'd be happy."

Tsuna stared at the kids for a few moments, before heaving a sigh.

"Did you tell anyone you were coming?"

The kids all flinched slightly, and their silence spoke volumes.

"That was very irresponsible of you three," chided Tsuna, sounding heavily disappointed.

The kids were all looking down now, looking close to tears and obviously feeling guilty.

"Are you going to think about your actions?" he prompted, and the three of them nodded their heads as one.

"Good," said Tsuna, with a nod of approval.

Then, holding his arms out, he said, "Well, come on then. Can I get my hug now?"

The kids looked up then, all wide eyes and runny noses.

They seemed to hesitate a moment, but when Tsuna encouraged them with a soft smile and a nod, they tumbled into his embrace one by one.

And as he ruffled hair and kissed foreheads and wiped tears, Miharu couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

Whenever she got scolded by her mother in the past for doing something wrong, it had never ended so painlessly.

And definitely never with hugs and kisses and warm, "I love you"s and "I missed you too"s.

Unwrapping his arms from around the children, Tsuna bent to pick up the suitcase the children had brought with them, and ushered all of them in, closing the door behind them.

Before long, they were all seated at the table, and Tsuna had gotten to work making more breakfast to go around.

With his back still turned, he said, "Miharu, these three idiots are my kids. The oldest one is Fuuta and he's 16. The other two are both your age. The boy is Lambo and the girl is I-Pin. They can sometimes do really stupid things, as you can tell from how they flew from Italy to Japan without actually telling anyone about it. But they're good kids."

Miharu's head was spinning, and there were a million questions she wanted to ask.

But first of all had to be...

"Your kids?" she asked, faint-headed. "How old are you?"

Tsuna chuckled quietly, smiling over his shoulder at her.

"Just 21. They're more like my younger siblings, actually. But they're legally my wards. And I'm the one that does all their parenting so..."

Miharu nodded mutely.

And then, after another moment of thought, she asked, "So you're from Italy?"

There was a snort from next to her, and her head immediately whipped around to look at the curly-haired boy, Lambo.

He was smirking at her, as if to say, _'You didn't even know that?'_

"I am," replied Tsuna. "I was visiting my mum at home in Namimori when I first heard about you. I didn't even go home first before coming here, so these three must have gotten lonely and ambushed the man that was bringing my clothes and work over from Italy. Am I right?"

"We did not!" insisted I-Pin, her voice indignant.

But when Tsuna turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, she sank back into her seat, her face red.

As Miharu sat back and watched the three of them bicker, she felt an unexpected yearning inside of her, to be a part of it.

She didn't remember ever having this kind of relationship with her mother.

Having raised Miharu as a single parent, her mother had always worked late, and been exhausted by the time she got back home. So she'd never had the time or energy to make jokes like this. And they'd never _ever_ had breakfast together.

It seemed like fun.

* * *

"Miharu?"

The girl's gaze snapped towards him as she snapped out of her daze.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" Tsuna asked, worried. Something seemed to be bothering her.

"Totally fine!" she said in a not at all convincing voice. "So...where did you even get the eggs and stuff? Wasn't the fridge empty?"

Getting distracted, Tsuna laughed and told her he'd gotten up early to run to the convenience store real quickly so they'd have something for breakfast.

By the time breakfast was over, Miharu was back to normal, and Tsuna had completely forgotten that there had even been something wrong with her.

Because he now had something else to worry about.

Fuuta had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the meal, and Tsuna was worried he was still stewing over what had happened earlier.

So when Miharu went upstairs to take a bath before they went out grocery shopping, Tsuna sat his little brother down for a talk.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Tsuna, brushing a lock of hair out of his face, and straightening his shirt, and just generally fussing like a mother hen. "You're not still upset about this morning, are you? I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh! But you really must consider others' feelings."

Fuuta stared at him silently for a moment, his expression thoughtful.

"I'm not still upset," he finally said. "Just...you seemed a bit different. But it must have been my imagination."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes in confusion, but then let it go with a shake of his head.

"Alright then. Moving on."

He looked at each of his kids in turn.

"You three have a _very_ important phone call to make, don't you?"

* * *

SkyGem: That's it for this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed the fluff! And the short insight into Miharu's life before our Vongolas! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought! Got any requests? Anything you want to see in the future? Let me know! And as for the thing about Yuni's father in the last chapter, that was purposefully left vague XD. You guys fill in the blank with whatever name you want. I like to think Gamma's her father, just because that's my ship, but that's just me. Anyways, that's it for me for now! See you tomorrow, loves!


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